Leaving Stryker Island

August 3rd (Saturday)
This morning we left Stryker Island. We did not get an early start as we were hoping to sail, and the winds were supposed to be best in the afternoon. 

The last time that we had tried to make water, the flow had been low, so since then we had cleaned all of the filters and we were planning to make water today while motoring out. Unfortunately the flow was still too low to make water, and after troubleshooting the system, starting by making sure the thru-hull was not clogged we have concluded that, for some reason, our low-pressure pump is just not creating enough flow/pressure. It is supposed to be a 40psi pump, but when we close the exit line the pressure switch is now shutting the pump off at about 15psi. The pump is still pumping water, but with much less flow than it should be. Unfortunately, when we left Vancouver we did not get a spare pump for this because we were still testing the whole system, and we thought a pump would last longer than this. Luckily, I think we have come up with a temporary solution. We barely use our domestic water pump, as we have a foot pump plumbed for the kitchen sink so as to save on water flow and power consumption, and although it is a different make of pump with different specs we think we should be able to make it work until we can get something better. We are going to try this tomorrow, so fingers are crossed.
We had a lovely sail from Stryker Island down to Calvert Island where we bee lined to, partly with the thought that we may be needing to order a pump, and so the wifi at Calvert Island may be very nice.  Although the weather was perfect, and the sailing was good, it was not a fully enjoyable sail out in the swells and chop while we were trying to get our water maker working. We were both happy to be back at anchor, and especially happy when we came up with what we are hopeful will be our solution.
There were five other boats here at Calvert Island anchored in the main anchorage when we got here, and we anchored well in front of a little red Cutwater. The wind was blowing us back towards them, and we had plenty of room. In the evening the wind calmed off, and we went down below for some dinner. When J got up after dinner he was very surprised at how close the little red boat was to us. We went up in the cockpit and could see by looking at land that we had not moved, and not only was the little boat way closer to us, but they were steadily drifting closer. The owners were on board and in their cockpit, but seemed to have the position that because they had been there first that they were not going to be the ones to move. By the time we got our engine started, and I went up on deck to raise the anchor, they were literally able to use their boat pole to push away from us. They were very nice people who remembered us from the Stryker Island anchorage where they had also been a few days ago. Apparently they are anchored with only a bit of chain on the ocean bottom, and the rest is rope, and so in 50' of water they float around every which way. Since having moved to where we are currently anchored we have watched their vessel floating all over the place. We are just happy that the wind died when it did, instead of overnight, so that we could see and react to how their boat moved. It was not an experience we would like repeated, but it definitely was an experience and a good learning of what to watch out for in an anchorage.
For those of you who are interested in what sea asparagus looks like, and have not already looked it up on the internet, here is a picture of some.

Sea asparagus that grows just above the high tide line.